For the Middle East, education credentials are also crucial. To get any decent employer, you would need a minimum of a BA + CELTA (many insisting on a 'related' BA, and other good certs are also accepted). The Ministries are requiring these in most cases.

Just found a good school in Libya. First you want to stay away from Newcastle they pay only $8/hr and want you to work 40 hrs min. Also, watch out for Edgewater as I stated earlier (post). But this new school in Tripoli pays $20/hr. with only a min of 20 hrs. They have lots of work and are looking for more teachers. They have a waiting list of students that they would need at least 6 more teachers, especially female. Also have management positions and room to grow. I like ground floor opportunities.

Just found a good school in Libya. First you want to stay away from Newcastle they pay only $8/hr and want you to work 40 hrs min. Also, watch out for Edgewater as I stated earlier (post). But this new school in Tripoli pays $20/hr. with only a min of 20 hrs. They have lots of work and are looking for more teachers. They have a waiting list of students that they would need at least 6 more teachers, especially female. Also have management positions and room to grow. I like ground floor opportunities.

Sounds too good to be true!

Seriously, how do you know it's a "good school?" And what would your investment be? I assume you're not presently teaching for this language school (if that's what it is), but working for a new business means taking a huge risk And the fact that it's in a foreign country... Anyway, although you say you like ground floor opportunities, this sounds like one to steer clear of until it's off the ground and has built a reputation (good, bad, or ugly).

No benefits? No housing, travel, medical, sick pay, holiday pay... just a mere $20 per hour if there are courses available?

Sounds more like a "backpacker" job where you pass through and teach a few classes while you tour the country for a few months. Nothing wrong with that, but certainly not a sterling job opportunity by the measures of the Middle East.

Just found a good school in Libya. First you want to stay away from Newcastle they pay only $8/hr and want you to work 40 hrs min. Also, watch out for Edgewater as I stated earlier (post). But this new school in Tripoli pays $20/hr. with only a min of 20 hrs. They have lots of work and are looking for more teachers. They have a waiting list of students that they would need at least 6 more teachers, especially female. Also have management positions and room to grow. I like ground floor opportunities.

Hmm, what an attractive job! $20 an hour, if there are classes available, to go and live in a politically-unstable, insecure country, which is still recovering from a civil war (not to mention 40 years of brutal dictatorship) where armed militias still control large areas of the territory. On top of that you can (probably) enjoy the sweltering summer temperatures in shared accommodation with other TEFL desperados. Sounds too good to be true. I hope it's not a scam. What the hell, nothing ventured...can you pm me their email address?

Sorry that I was not complete in my description. The school is owned by an English professor from the University. They have been operating for a few years and have got a good rep from my sources in Libya. They do pay for accommodation (incl all util.) basic medical, paid holidays and sick pay. The only drawback is you have to pay your own airfare. My prior experience in teaching overseas was in Japan where the PLO fired missiles at the US Embassy, in Lebanon while they various militias where fighting each other and in Saudi when the Iranians attacked in Mecca. Any time any of us leave our home land there are risks. I look forward to be even a small part of the rebuilding process. And, yes of course, the Middle East pays more but pay is not my only motivating factor! Furthermore, I have been in touch with teachers from three different schools. They all agree that in Tripoli they have and still feel safe in the areas that they are in. Most of them have been there prior to the revolution. I thank all that have responded. Your comments helped me to make sure I did not miss anything.

The PLO fired missiles at a US embassy in Japan? I don't even remember that one, but since I never lived or worked anywhere near an embassy that wouldn't matter. That would be a stretch for any danger to any TEFLers in Japan. I'm sure that you would agree that the instability in Libya greatly exceeds anything in Japan since the 1950s. But for a single person, it is an interesting country and my few friends who have visited there over the years liked it. (one of them was a passenger on an Egyptair flight that was hijacked and Qaddafi brought them lunch out in the desert. )

If you decide to try it, let us know how it goes. The complete package sounds a bit better though a set salary would certainly be preferable to an hourly rate without a guarantee of hours.

Sorry that I was not complete in my description. The school is owned by an English professor from the University. They have been operating for a few years and have got a good rep from my sources in Libya. They do pay for accommodation (incl all util.) basic medical, paid holidays and sick pay. The only drawback is you have to pay your own airfare. My prior experience in teaching overseas was in Japan where the PLO fired missiles at the US Embassy, in Lebanon while they various militias where fighting each other and in Saudi when the Iranians attacked in Mecca. Any time any of us leave our home land there are risks. I look forward to be even a small part of the rebuilding process. And, yes of course, the Middle East pays more but pay is not my only motivating factor! Furthermore, I have been in touch with teachers from three different schools. They all agree that in Tripoli they have and still feel safe in the areas that they are in. Most of them have been there prior to the revolution. I thank all that have responded. Your comments helped me to make sure I did not miss anything.

That's quite a big (and costly!) drawback. Do you really want to shell out a large sum of money to go and work in a $20 an hour job that you might not even like?

It's pretty much standard across the whole ME region to have your initial and final flights paid for, and often your annual vacation flights too. Even the stingiest organisations I've worked for have not withheld paid flights...

Yes Scot, that is the incident I was referring to. The official news was that the Iranian government was behind it. Citing your source: "Some sources claim the death toll from the incident was 402 people: 275 Iranian pilgrims, 85 Saudi police, and 42 pilgrims from other nationalities." Yeah, I would say it sounds like a war.

Also the "PLO attack" in May 1986, was attributed to "possible Japanese radicals" in the newspapers but the word on the street was that the PLO was behind it. It was about the same time the PLO opened their office in Japan. If you do your research you will find that the PLO had connections with groups in Japan.

My point is that no matter where you go in the world, there are always risk. That's all.

"In the early morning of 20 November 1979, the imam of the Grand Mosque, Sheikh Mohammed al-Subayil, was preparing to lead the prayers for the fifty thousand worshipers who had gathered for prayer. Around 5:00 am, he was interrupted by insurgents who produced weapons from under their robes, chained the gates shut and killed two policemen who were armed with only wooden clubs for disciplining unruly pilgrims.[13] The number of insurgents has been given as "at least 500"[6] and "four to five hundred", which included several women and children who had joined Otaibi's movement.[12]

At the time, the Grand Mosque was being renovated. An employee of the organization was able to report the seizure to outside before the insurgents cut the telephone lines.

The insurgents released most of the hostages and locked the remainder in the sanctuary. They took defensive positions in the upper levels of the mosque, and sniper positions in the minarets, from which they commanded the grounds. No one outside the mosque knew how many hostages remained, how many militants were in the mosque and what sort of preparations they had made."

Also the "PLO attack" in May 1986, was attributed to "possible Japanese radicals" in the newspapers but the word on the street was that the PLO was behind it. It was about the same time the PLO opened their office in Japan. If you do your research you will find that the PLO had connections with groups in Japan.

I highly doubt it, no matter the gossip on the street. The Japanese authorities would be eager to blame it on outsiders if they thought that they could - rather than home grown - so I'd go along with the authorities on that one.

I love the way people who aren't actually in Libya are waxing lyrical about the place.

Really? Where?

Other than the Benhilo, who has been trying to get a job there for awhile now, and even he is nowhere near "waxing lyrical" except for his interpretation of this job offer...

Is the oil business getting back to normal? Are the teacher numbers back to where they were prior? I heard through oil sources that the companies had most of their equipment looted - offices, trucks, generators and such.